New M3 MacBook Air — What you need to know + OLED iPads are INCOMING! (CultCast #637)

This week, Apple dropped the M3 MacBook Air, and the specs look good! But where’s the iPad? Also, we have details on the CRAZY canceled Apple car prototypes and a folding MacBook that’s still in development, Apple’s $2 BILLION dollar legal fight with Spotify, and new features you’ll get in iOS 17.4! This episode supported by: Listeners like you. Your support helps us fund CultCast Off-Topic, a new weekly podcast of bonus content available for everyone; and helps us secure the future of the podcast. You also get access to The CultClub Discord, where you can chat with us all week long, give us show topics, and even end up on the show. Support The CultCast at support.thecultcast.com — OR at CultOf9to5MacRumors.com . Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/CultCast. Use offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Backblaze offers unlimited cloud backups for Macs, PCs and businesses for just $99 a year. Access your data from anywhere in the world. Get a fully-featured no-risk free trial at Backblaze.com/CultCast . This week’s stories: New M3 MacBook Air gets big specs boost with same awesome battery life The 2024 MacBook Air lineup launched Monday by Apple runs on the company’s M3 chip, bringing a significant performance boost to the laptop. Early benchmarks show M3 chip gives MacBook Air hefty performance boost Early benchmark scores found by mysmartprice show that the new Air scored 12,020 on the Geekbench multicore test. That’s 25% better than the M2-based MacBook Air earned on the same test, and 45% better than the M1 version from 2020. MacBook with 20-inch folding screen still on track for release The product has been on the drawing board for quite some time, but isn’t scheduled for release until 2027. The (cancelled) Microsoft Surface Neo How indecision and hubris killed the Apple car The history of the Apple car is littered with wild prototypes, astonishing hubris and a deadly dose of crippling indecision, according to a damning report that offers the best picture yet of the secretive Project Titan. Get ready for new MacBooks and iPads at Apple March event Another product we can expect in the pipeline is the OLED iPad Pro and the first 12.9-inch iPad Air. EU fines Apple 1.8 billion euros over ‘abusive’ treatment of Spotify The European Commission fined Apple more than 1.8 billion euros Monday for “abusing its dominant position on the market for the distribution of music streaming apps.†Apple calls Epic Games ‘untrustworthy,’ blocks Fortnite rerelease in EU Try these exciting iOS 17.4 features on your iPhone now Apple just dropped iOS 17.4, bringing a plethora of new features — some of which fundamentally change how the iPhone works. Monarch: Budget and track money